BT Picks Ciena for 21CN

LINTHICUM, Md. -- Ciena(R) Corporation (NASDAQ:CIEN), the network specialist, today announced that BT has selected Ciena as a preferred supplier to support its 21st Century Network (21CN), a five-year project to transform BT's business and enable the cost-effective delivery of next-generation converged, multimedia communications across a single multiservice network. BT has announced it expects to conclude contractual agreements with named preferred suppliers over the summer. BT plans to deploy Ciena's technology as it migrates services from the existing UK public switched telephone network (PSTN) to a single, multiservice internet protocol (IP)-based network.

Under the multi-year agreement, BT plans to deploy Ciena's optical switching and transmission and Ethernet transport platforms to enable network convergence and accelerate service delivery. Designed to reduce network complexity and the costs associated with service fulfillment, Ciena's platforms will help enable a network architecture for BT designed with significantly fewer network elements.

"The 21CN project exemplifies BT's commitment to innovation and its dedication to going above and beyond for the benefit of its customers," said Gary Smith, president and CEO, Ciena. "Ciena's applications-driven technology is ideally suited for innovative networks like 21CN. We are proud to continue working with an industry leader like BT as it embarks on this massive transformation."

Smith continued, "We believe BT selected Ciena for its technology leadership, demonstrated performance in building large, adaptive carrier-class networks, and commitment to delivering vendor-interoperable solutions, while enabling the convergence of an IP network via an optical backbone. Ciena's platforms also provide BT an unsurpassed level of network flexibility to enable a practical, seamless migration from TDM to IP."

Ciena Corp.